Play ideas kids can enjoy from 1st to 6th grade [indoors & outdoors]
Looking for games everyone from first to sixth grade can enjoy together? In response to those requests, here are activities that bring excitement across grade levels.
From escape-room style games where teammates work together to solve puzzles, to chase games where everyone holds hands to flee from the tagger—there are plenty of options you can enjoy in the classroom or the gym! Build teamwork and share lots of smiles.
From active, movement-based games to brain teasers, you’ll find a wide variety of activities that support children’s growth.
- [Play Right Away!] Exciting Recreation Games Recommended for Elementary School Students
- Indoor and outdoor activities that avoid crowding. Enjoyable for students from first to sixth grade.
- [Children’s Club] Easy and fun indoor games. Exciting party games
- Recommended for upper elementary grades! Exciting indoor recreation and games
- No worries even in the rain! Fun recreational activities you can do in the gym
- [Elementary School] Quick and Easy! Indoor Recreational Activities Perfect for Lower Grades
- Elementary School Fun Day a Big Hit! Indoor Game Idea Collection
- [Elementary School Rec] Recommended Games and Performances for a Fun Party
- [For Kids] Indoor Fun! Large-Group Recreational Activities and Games
- Liven up your children’s club event! A collection of ideas everyone can enjoy
- Recreation Activities That Excite Kids’ Clubs! Plans and Ideas Children Will Love
- [For Kids] Exciting Class-vs-Class Games: Team Competition Activities
- Recommended outdoor games and recreational activities for lower elementary school children
Outdoor play / Active play (11–20)
Sports Rokumushi
Rokumushi is a game where players move between two circles while carefully avoiding being hit by a ball held by the tagger.
It tests strategies such as how the runners advance toward the next circle and how the tagger blocks their path.
A team-based format is recommended; the more participants there are, the greater the awareness of movement becomes, and the strategies tend to grow more sophisticated.
Since having fewer remaining players is a disadvantage, it might be best for the team to move as a united group.
Cat and Mouse
A game called “Cats and Mice” is played by several people.
The “cat” team joins hands to form a circle, and the “mouse” team tries to escape from inside the circle.
The cat team crouches or closes gaps to form a wall, preventing the mice from getting out.
Since they have to move their bodies skillfully to avoid creating openings, it involves bending and squatting movements, making it a game that significantly strengthens the legs and lower body.
Hula hoop down
Hula Hoop Down is a game where everyone supports a hula hoop using only their index fingers, then gradually lowers their posture, and succeeds if they can place the hoop on the ground.
It looks very easy when you hear the explanation or watch a video, but it’s actually quite difficult.
If even one person’s finger slips off or lifts the hoop, you have to start over.
human disentanglement puzzle
The tangled ring puzzle you try to untie—let’s do that with people! Everyone starts standing in a circle facing inward.
Then, with your right and left hands, each person grabs the hands of two different people—not the same person with both hands, and preferably people who aren’t right next to you.
By the time everyone’s hands are connected, you probably won’t have any idea what’s going on—but that’s when it starts! Duck under arms and weave through gaps to untangle yourselves, and keep going until you’ve formed one big circle again.
It’s a game anyone can enjoy regardless of age.
Hula hoop relay
How about trying a “hula hoop relay” that you can play both indoors and outdoors? In a regular relay, you run with a baton and pass it to the next runner, but in a hula hoop relay, two people stand inside one hula hoop and then pass the hoop to the next runners.
Since you play in pairs, coordinating your movements with your partner is key.
It can be even more exciting if you team up students from higher and lower grades, pairing those with an age gap.
Try it as a team competition!
Kick the can
Draw a circle in an open, easily visible area and place an empty can at the center.
The game starts when someone kicks the can.
While the tagger is returning the can to its original spot in the center of the circle, the children run away and hide.
When the tagger finds someone, they call out their name—“I found so-and-so!”—and step on the can; the person who’s been found must go into the circle.
The children can take advantage of openings to kick the can.
If the can is kicked, any children who were caught are freed, and the game restarts from the hiding phase.
Tag is a game even small children can play, and kick-the-can is one that people of all ages can enjoy.
Outdoor Play and Physical Activities (21–30)
Mixed-age dodgeball
Let’s nurture compassion and cooperation! Here are ideas for mixed-age dodgeball.
Younger kids are often curious about and admire the games older kids play, right? This idea is perfect for situations commonly seen in after-school programs! When children of different ages play together, older kids can demonstrate leadership, and younger kids can learn the importance of helping one another.
Emphasizing teamwork, with rules and flow designed so everyone can have fun, will also help improve communication skills through the game.
By playing, children naturally develop the ability to cooperate and deepen their bonds with their peers.